A dedicated group of young and old gathered at St. Dominic School Cafeteria on a recent Sunday after Mass for a March tradition: baking cookies for St. Joseph’s Day. The Rosary Altar Society bakes between 4,000 and 5,000 cookies each year to go along with its annual St. Joseph’s Day altar, and Rosary Altar Society President Linda Guastella said the sight always makes her proud.

View full sizePhotos by Kerry Maloney, he Times-PicayuneRita Graffeo, left, and Antoinette Costa pack up St. Joseph's Day altar cookies Sunday, at St. Dominic School in Lakeview.

“At the end of the day, it is really a gorgeous altar,” Guastella said. “It is a lot of work to get it done, but today is really a piece of cake. We really have a lovely group of ladies that come out and help.”

The altar was blessed twice Friday and will be open today through Monday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Dominic Church, 775 Harrison Ave. in Lakeview. There will also be a memorial table featuring photographs of loved ones or people in need.

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The St. Joseph’s Day tradition was brought to New Orleans by Sicilian immigrants, and it is believed that St. Joseph rewards each individual outpouring of effort and charity, and will intercede to help in recovery from illness, success in business, conception of a child or the safe return of a loved one in time of war.

On baking day, many of the Altar Society’s 85 members, along with local Girl Scouts and other church youth, rolled sesame seed cookies while sharing smiles and laughs. In total, the group used 160 pounds of flour, 70 pounds of sugar, 192 eggs, 16 pounds of sesame seeds, 48 sticks of margarine and 8 pounds of pecans. The list of cookies to be given away to visitors include chocolate balls, sesame seed cookies, lemon balls and thumbprint cookies.

Lisa Rosevally and her daughter, Alyssa, said they were enjoying the quality time. “I get to bond with my daughter,” Lisa Rosevally said, as her daughter smiled and kept rolling dough. “It’s a lot of fun.”

View full sizeIn total, the group used 160 pounds of flour, 70 pounds of sugar, 192 eggs, 16 pounds of sesame seeds, 48 sticks of margarine and 8 pounds of pecans.

Altar Society member Pat Lassalle said the fellowship is very important to her faith.

“I just think of it as something to help me out with Lent,” she said. “St. Joseph was a great saint. I just feel like it is something that I can do for him.”

The altar at St. Dominic was started in 2003 when the then-pastor wanted to expand a small side altar to a stand-alone altar. Geri Landry said the Altar Society embraced the task, creating a fitting altar while making delicious cookies.

“We researched all types of recipes so we came up with ones that made a cookie that we didn’t have to break our teeth on,” she said.

The altar is a tradition in the parish now. “It seems like every year it just gets bigger,” Landry said.

The Rev. Mike O’Rourke, pastor of St. Dominic, suggested that the Rosary Altar Society expand the altar in recent years, including putting St. Joseph on a raised altar with a gold background.

Altar Society member Cynthia Schulin said the baking day and bagging day a week later are rewarding, especially because it’s Lent.

“It is a form of penitence to give up our Sunday, but we’ve been dealing with this for a long time,” she said, surveying the kitchen full of bakers. “We’re been meeting and planning it for a while, so it’s nice to see everyone here today. The more prepared you are, the better it goes, and today is going very well.”

Click here for a list of other altars at New Orleans churches and schools.